Improv acting club returns under new name

There is a new club coming to campus, but you might have heard of it before. Back N’ Progress is a club that used to be under the name “Work N’ Progress.”

Work N’ Progress was discontinued after the start of the pandemic in 2020 and has since been revamped under the new title by Brielle Myles-Williams and Eric Durette.

Myles-Williams was a previous E-Board member in Work N’ Progress and Durette is one of the Co-Presidents next to Dana Samalik.

Back N’ Progress is a club that does improvisational theater, often referred to as improv, at its meetings but does not force anyone to participate. Improv is a theater style that allows for participants to act freely based on a prompt.

Durette explained the benefits of this relaxed format:

“[The club is] low stakes and interactive for anyone on campus,” said Durette. “The E-board wanted to create a space that didn’t require as much commitment as an onstage production does, but still acts as a gateway into the Theater Department,”

The club’s E-board consists of mostly first-year students, including Durette and Samalik as well as Alex Dubowski as social coordinator, Emma Koch as treasurer and Paige Tuckerman as secretary.

They have also created a unique position for Myles-Williams listing her as the club’s “Goddess” and stating that none of this would be possible without her help in structuring the club similarly to Work N’ Progress.

The club is being advised by faculty member and chair of the Theater Department, Dave Rzeszutek.

Durette shared that he is very excited to see this club get off the ground especially after the pandemic and its effect on live performances.

Back N’ Progress hopes to be a space similar to Work N’ Progress for students of every background to learn more about theater and to branch out on campus.

Durette recommends going to meetings to get involved in the club. Meetings are structured in a way that allows for ice breakers to get to know new participants and turns into fun improv games.

Meetings will be hosted at 10 p.m. on Thursdays in the Alumni Lounge. Meetings will become regular after the performance of “Very Berry Dead” which premiers on Feb. 15 in the Malcolm Field Theatre.

For more information on Back N’ Progress, contact any member on the club’s E-Board.

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